Microorganisms and Microbiology Chapter 1 Microorganisms and Microbiology

Microorganisms are excellent models for understanding cell function in higher organisms, including humans.

1.2 Microorganisms as Cells, p. 3 The cell is a dynamic entity that forms the fundamental unit of life (Figure 1.2).

LM of rod-shape bacterial cells EM of a rod-shape bacterial cell

The cell has a barrier, the cytoplasmic membrane, that separates the inside of the cell from the environment. Other cell features include the nucleus or nucleoid and the cytoplasm.

Macromolecules The four classes of cellular macromolecules are proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and polysaccharides.

Six features associated with living organisms are metabolism, reproduction, differentiation, communication, movement, and evolution (Figure 1.3).

Cells as Machines and Coding Devices Cells can be considered machines that carry out chemical transformation. Enzymes are the catalysts of this chemical machine, greatly accelerating the rate of chemical reactions.

Cells can also be considered coding devices that store and process information that is eventually passed on to offspring during reproduction through DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and evolution (Figure 1.4). The link between cells as machines and cells as coding devices is growth.

1.3 Microorganisms and Their Natural Environments, p. 5 Microorganisms exist in nature in populations that interact with other populations in microbial communities. The activities of microbial communities can greatly affect the chemical and physical properties of their habitats. Most of the biomass on Earth is microbial.

A microbial habitat is the location in an environment where a microbial population lives.

Populations in microbial communities interact in various ways, both harmful and beneficial. In many cases, microbial populations interact and cooperate. Organisms in a habitat also interact with their physical and chemical environment. An ecosystem includes living organisms together with the physical and chemical constituents of their environment.

Microorganisms change the chemical and physical properties of their habitats through such activities as the removal of nutrients from the environment and the excretion of waste products.

Estimates of the total number of microbial cells on Earth is on the order of 5  1030 cells.

The total amount of carbon present in this very large number of very small cells equals that of all plants on Earth (and plant carbon far surpasses animal carbon). Most prokaryotic cells reside underground in the oceanic and terrestrial subsurfaces.

The Impact of Microorganisms on Humans Microorganisms can be both beneficial and harmful to humans (Figure 1.6). We tend to emphasize harmful microorganisms (infectious disease agents, or pathogens), but many more microorganisms in nature are beneficial than are harmful.

Impact of Microorganisms

Microorganisms are important in the agricultural industry. For example, legumes, which live in close association with bacteria that form structures called nodules on their roots, convert atmospheric nitrogen into fixed nitrogen that the plants use for growth. The activities of the bacteria reduce the need for costly and polluting plant fertilizer.

Microorganisms also play important roles in the food industry, both harmful and beneficial. Because food fit for human consumption can support the growth of many microorganisms, it must be properly prepared and monitored to avoid transmission of disease.

Foods that benefit from the effects of microorganisms include cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, sauerkraut, pickles, sausages, baked goods, and alcoholic beverages.

Microorganisms are important in energy production, including the production of methane (natural gas), energy stored in organisms (biomass), and ethanol.

Biotechnology is the use of microorganisms in industrial biosynthesis, typically by microorganisms that have been genetically modified to synthesize products of high commercial value.

Various microorganisms can be used to consume spilled oil, solvents, pesticides, and other environmentally toxic pollutants.

Historical of Microbiology

Robert Hooke was the first to describe microorganisms (Figure 1.8).

Microscope used by Robert Hooke to see microorganisms in 1664

Bluish color mold growing on the surface of leather discovered by Robert Hooke

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek was the first to describe bacteria in 1676 (Figure 1.9).

va Leeuwenhoek’s microscope

va Leeuwenhoek’s Drawings of Bacteria

Photomicrograph of a human blood smear taken through va Leeuwenhoek’s microscope

1828-1898 Ferdinand Cohn founded the field of bacteriology and discovered bacterial endospores (Figure 1.10).

Drawing by Ferdinand Cohen (1866) of the fillamentous sufur-oxidizing bacterium

Louis Pasteur's work on spontaneous generation led to the development of methods for controlling the growth of microorganisms.

Spontaneous generation was the hypothesis that living organisms can originate from nonliving matter. Pasteur disproved this idea through a famous experiment (Figure 1.11) in which he compared the growth of microorganisms in one flask containing sterile broth that was exposed to the air and one containing sterile broth that was not exposed to the air.

Microorganisms grew only in the flask exposed to the air, thereby refuting the idea that cells can arise spontaneously from nonliving matter.

Robert Koch developed a set of postulates (Figure 1 Robert Koch developed a set of postulates (Figure 1.12) to prove that a specific microorganism causes a specific disease: Koch discovered Mycobacterium tuberculosis -

Microbial Diversity and the Rise of General Microbiology Beijerinck and Winogradsky studied bacteria in soil and water and developed the enrichment culture technique for the isolation of representatives of various physiological groups (Figure 1.16).

Oxidation of sulfur and nitrogen

Major new concepts in microbiology emerged during this period, including enrichment cultures, chemolithotrophy, chemoautotrophy, and nitrogen fixation.

Table 1.1 summarizes some of the important discoveries in the field of microbiology, from van Leeuwenhoek to the present.

Table 1.1 summarizes some of the important discoveries in the field of microbiology, from van Leeuwenhoek to the present.

The Modern Era of Microbiology In the middle to latter part of the twentieth century, basic and applied microbiology worked hand in hand to usher in the current era of molecular microbiology. Figure 1.17 depicts some of the landmarks in microbiology in the past 65 years.

The Modern Era of Microbiology

Some subdisciplines of applied microbiology include medical microbiology, immunology, agricultural microbiology, industrial microbiology, aquatic microbiology, marine microbiology, and microbial ecology.

Some subdisciplines of basic microbiology include microbial systematics, microbial physiology, cytology, microbial biochemistry, bacterial genetics, and molecular biology.